02A – Advent 2A

Psalm 72:1-7,18,19
O God, give your justice to the king,and your way of acting to put things right to the son of the king.May he judge your people with your way of acting to put things right,and your poor with justice.May the mountains bring forth prosperity for the people,and the high places your way of acting to put things right.May he judge the poor of the world,saving the poor, and breaking those who oppress.May he live as long as the sun,and in the presence of the moon, for all generations.May he be like the rain on mown grass,like gentle rain on the drought-baked earth.May your way of acting to put things right sprout forth in his daysand well-being abound until the moon is no more.Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel,who alone does wondrous things.And blessed be the glorious name of God for ever,and may the glory of God fill all the earth.

For the Second Sunday in Advent – Year A(in Haiku form)
One voice
telling the world,
“The kingdom is quite near”:
shouting, out in the wilderness
“Turn now”.

Who shouts
“Prepare the way”?
Who calls the world to change –
and seeks to have it turn around
to God?

This sharp,
prophetic, voice
which calls, is sent from God;
a messenger for him who is
to come.

How then
shall I prepare?
Joining in pious haste,
those leaning on ancestral faith
long past?

No, Lord:
let me reflect
the way you dwell in me:
living outward, bearing your fruit
each day.

OFFERINGSteadfast and encouraging God of hope
we come in gratitude and longing,
with our lives and symbols of our living.
Present in our brokenness,
we trust in your faithfulness. Amen.

A CREATIVE MOMENT – (a) Matthew 3:1-12 While the blue cloth is a reminder of last week’s reading and reference to the Flood, this week it becomes a symbol of John the Baptist and baptism. Additional symbols might be sandals ands a leather belt; rough, angularstones symbolising the wilderness and children of Abraham; and an axe.

Click here for some ideas for worship in Advent and Christmas gleaned from the pages of “On the Move” (now out of print) originally published by the Joint Board of Christian Education, Melbourne, Australia.

THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE(A prayer to gather the spoken and silent concerns/joys/thanks expressed by the congregation and lead into a more structured Intercession with connection to the lections for the day. Sometimes this prayer borrows lightly from other sources e.g. Uniting in Worship 2 or publications of the Iona Community.)

Steadfast and encouraging God of hope,
may your Word be a sustaining presence
those whom we name
on our lips and in our silence…
a blessing to those who love and care for them…
Pour out your Spirit
on those who troubles are known only to you…
and those who have no-one…
Strengthen us also
that in our following the way of Jesus
we may be a sign
of your acting to put things right.(The Prayers of the People continue)